Death Never Takes a Holiday

Posted by Becky on October 17, 2009

I seem to be surrounded by the thought of people dying of late.  My mom might have an Aortic Abdominal Aneurysm.  My brother called me yesterday to let me know he might have some form of skin cancer and is waiting to find out the results of the biopsy next week.  If someone comes to work with a cold, I worry for my boss and I worry about his wife, too.  I worry for our Sales Managers wife and our Boiler Operators wife and Kristen, who had the Rock the Cure event last week.   The list is getting too large!  But then death is with me every day, I remind myself.  It never goes away, it is like the air that surrounds me.  I’m not always aware that it’s there unless, of course, it’s blowing.

Like  today. I went to my local yarn store to see if I could leave a garment for  Sarah to finish.  For those of you that don’t knit, finishing is the most tedious of knitting.  It cuts into our knitting time.  Sarah would do it for a fee and she was great at it, which is something not all knitters can say, myself included.  So, like I said today  I went in thinking I could leave it for Sarah and I found out Sarah had died!  It was so shocking and I was so sad to hear this news as she had successfully battled cancer before so naturally when she got cancer again, one just assumes…..

Sarah was born in Israel and she was blessed with that ability to tell wonderful stories that made you feel like you were there. I can still remember the day she told us about the first time she saw snow fall in Israel as a child.  I  was often amazed as I worked or was just sitting as a knitter that an Atheist, a Jew, a Christian, a Mormon, a recovering Catholic  and an Agnostic could sit and knit and crochet (weapons, mind you) while  discussing religion and politics with not a drop of bloodshed.  

 I can’t remember how often some poor soul would wander into the store with  a partially finished garment that their mother or grandmother had left unfinished who had passed away. They would come in not knowing what to do with it, but  only knowing that it was something that they deeply wanted to have and sought guidance.  It was often Sarah who would finish the garment, sometimes matching old yarns or even working without the pattern and it was such a special gift.

I will miss you Sarah, and the table where we sat and knit and shared stories  will not be the same without  you, but you enriched our lives and we were so blessed to have known you and we will keep that part of you with us and in that respect, you will always be with us.

The Mourner’s Kaddish

Glorified and sanctified be G-d’s great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon.   Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world. Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel.   Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel.   Amen